Summary:
- Morgan Stanley posts record high 1st quarter profit
- Shares called to open sharply higher
- US500 moves close to 1-month high
It looks like being a bright start to the US session for stock markets, with indices currently trading close to their higher level in a month. The US500 has accelerated to the upside after breaking out of prior resistance around 2680 and the market is now looking to extend higher.
The S-H-S identified last week in the US500 remains in play. Source: xStation
One of the causes of the latest gains in the index is the latest set of results from Morgan Stanley. With several US banks reporting better than expected results already this earnings season the bar was high, but MS appears to have cleared it with an impressive set of earnings. A surprise jump in fixed-income trading, alongside above forecast equities numbers helped push Q1 revenue above $11B for the first time. This contributed to first-quarter profit, which was also aided by the tax cuts, and rose to an all-time high.
Morgan Stanley reported an impressive set of results with revenues rising on better-than-expected results in both equities and fixed-income. Source: Bloomberg
Shares in Morgan Stanley are trading higher by over 2% in the pre-market and will be interesting to watch on the opening bell. The market has held prior support around 51.90 in recent weeks and may now look to push higher.
Morgan Stanley has been trading in a narrow range in recent weeks but is set to open firmly higher after the results. Source: xStation